Patients in California with a physician’s recommendation are predominantly using cannabis to treat symptoms of pain, insomnia, and anxiety, according to population data published in the present issue of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz analyzed data from 1,746 consecutive admissions to nine medical marijuana assessment clinics operating throughout California.

Authors reported, “[R]elief of pain, spasms, headache, and anxiety, as well as to improve sleep and relaxation were the most common reasons patients cited for using medical marijuana.” Patients typically reported that cannabis provided them with more than one therapeutic benefit, and four in five (79.3 percent) reported having first tried other medications prescribed by their physicians, almost half of which were opiates.

Of those sampled, three-fourths of the patients were male and three-fifths were Caucasian. Compared to the US Census of California, the patients in this sample were on average “somewhat younger, report[ed] slightly more years of formal education, and [were] more often employed.” Two-fifths of patients in the sample “had not been using marijuana recreationally prior to trying it for medicinal purposes.”

Investigators also reported that patients’ use of tobacco was “somewhat higher than in the general population, but [that their] prevalence of alcohol use was significantly lower” than that of the general population. Patients use of other illicit substances, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin was also lower than that of the general population.

Over 80 percent of the patients in the sample reported consuming cannabis via inhalation (86.1 percent). Twenty-five percent of patients sampled consumed cannabis orally. Twenty-two percent vaporized cannabis and approximately three percent said that they used the substance topically.

Most patients (40.1 percent) reported consuming up to three grams of cannabis per week. Thirty-six percent of patients reported using four to seven grams of cannabis, and 23.3 percent said they consumed more than seven grams of marijuana per week. A majority of respondents (56.1 percent) said they used cannabis prior to sleep.

Authors concluded: “Compared to earlier studies of medical marijuana patients, these data suggest that the patient population has evolved from mostly HIV/AIDS and cancer patients to a significantly more diverse array. … This suggests that the patient population is likely to continue evolving as new patients and physicians discover the therapeutic uses of cannabis.”

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, “Who are medical marijuana patients? Population characteristics from nine California assessment clinics,” appears in The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.

Just outside Osama Bin Laden’s secret hideout investigators found a garden which included various produce as well as marijuana plants. Now, some believe that Bin Laden was smoking weed as a way of helping with his kidney problems.

In Pakistan marijuana grows wildly in many locations, so it’s not surprising the marijuana plants went unnoticed in plain view.

The grocer that Bin Laden’s lackeys purchased food from was reportedly confused about how much food they bought. Munchies? “I was curious about why they bought so much food, but I did not want to be rude by asking,” he said. Here’s an excerpt from the Daily Mail, reporting on the CNN’s discovery of the marijuana outside the Bin Laden Compound.

“High-strength marijuana plants have been found just yards from the luxury home of slain terror chief Osama Bin Laden. Hundreds of the exotic green flower have flourished for a number of years on the border of the war lord’s secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Despite being a short walk from a military training academy dubbed ‘Pakistan’s Sandhurst’, the illegal crop had remained undiscovered. But hundreds of officials have descended on the busy town this week after Bin Laden was blasted in the brain by U.S. Navy Seals.

An American reporter noticed the pungent line of plants growing in the dry fields surrounding the five-metre high concrete walls. CNN’s Nic Robertson showed to the camera the marijuana hidden alongside other crops including cabbages and potatoes.

The discovery raised the possibility that Bin Laden may have been a regular smoker of the ‘weed’ strain of the plant. Bin Laden had in recent years suffered from kidney problems which may have been eased by taking marijuana for its medicinal properties.”

LAKEWOOD – A medical marijuana business is donating 100 percent of the profit from marijuana joints to earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan.

Compassionate Pain Management’s owner Shaun Gindi says he saw the devastation in Japan on the news, and floated the idea of donating some of his profits to help on Facebook.

After he got tons of positive feedback, he started brainstorming ideas for the campaign. After rejecting names like “Bake for the Quake” and “Joint Relief,” he settled for what he thought was a more appropriate name of “Joints for Japan.”

At Compassionate Pain Management’s two locations in Lakewood and Louisville, joints sell for $5 a piece for those with a medical marijuana card and prescription. Gindi has promised 100 percent of the profits from those sales for at least the next two to three weeks to go to the Red Cross for recovery efforts in Japan.

Because marijuana remains illegal in the eyes of the federal government, charitable giving is not recognized as a write-off. Gindi says his donations are completely from the heart.